Zeke, Erik, and Eric climbing Hawk Hill, Marin, California (August 2026)

Recently I took Zeke flying around the San Francisco Bay Area (including under the Golden Gate Bridge), giving us a stunning view of the beautiful place we call home (watch the video). While the air and sea are my happy places, Zeke’s happy place is on a bike with his friends Eric and Erik (E1 and E2) and Pat.

Unfortunately, due to scheduling issues, they couldn’t find two weeks for a destination ride. He has a solo cycling trip scheduled for the Netherlands in September, but he was determined to pull together something with his friends for the summer. They discussed a Redwood City to San Diego trip, but he couldn’t get the guys to agree on dates.

Zeke has been following Ryan Duzer, a cycling enthusiast and influencer from Boulder, Colorado, who recently did a Bay Area ride starting at the Golden Gate Bridge. This became the inspiration for a 5-day ride beginning and ending in our driveway.

He convinced Eric, Erik, and Pat that it was either this trip (a short one) or no trip.

The Plan

Duzer’s ride was based on a route created by a gal named Emily and began at the Golden Gate Bridge and ended at the BART station near the Dumbarton Bridge. Since Zeke had ridden from Redwood City to Half Moon Bay and from the Dumbarton Bridge to Redwood City, he figured he could pull together a Bay Area route based on Emily’s route and Duzer’s ride. How hard could this be?

He was excited about not having to lose days traveling, box up his bike, deal with jet lag, and about getting to explore more of the Bay Area trails, especially those in Marin, north of San Francisco, an area that became the birthplace of modern mountain biking with the likes of Gary Fisher.

They worked on the route, taking into account estimated mileage and climbs, hiker/biker spots and campgrounds, and trail reviews. They even coordinated with two other friends, with one joining for the first leg and another bringing them burritos on night three.

Pat bailed about a week before the ride, leaving just Zeke, Eric, and Erik.

The Preparation

Zeke knew he didn’t need to pack much for the trip. They’d be riding past coffee shops, restaurants, and grocery stores, and in the event that there were any issues, they would never be far from cell service, a ferry, or a train.

When preparing his bike for the trip, he realized that it had suffered some damage riding through rivers and creeks in Costa Rica in February. He took it to Sports Basement for repairs later than he should have. It needed extensive work, but Sports Basement didn’t have all of the parts, so they got it into good enough shape for the ride.

He needed to get some food and snacks and pack up his normal gear, including his four pairs of cycling shorts. They all had their own sleeping bags, tents, stoves, pots, and, of course, coffee for the mornings.

The Ride

Day One: Redwood City to Half Moon Bay: 35 miles, 2,000-2,500 feet of climb

Saturday. Zeke left our house about 11 AM on August 1st to meet up at E1’s house in Redwood City, where E2 joined the gang. Together, the three of them rode one of Zeke’s favorite rides through the redwoods, along the Coast Trail, to the Half Moon Bay State Beach hiker/biker spot, which cost a whopping $7/person. They had dinner at the Half Moon Brewery and breakfast at The Press in El Granada. This was not roughing it by any stretch of the imagination.

The ride up Kings Mountain is fairly popular with cyclists, but the descent down through the redwoods, ferns, and creeks of Purissima is not only gorgeous, but also not as popular with cyclists. I’ll have to take his word for it as I’ve never been to this area.

At the bottom of Purissima, you follow farm roads to the coast, where you turn north to ride a trail along the coast with the Pacific Ocean on your left. There was no fog, which is unusual during the summer, and he said it was gorgeous.

The weather was perfect and the sunset extraordinary. They benefitted from our fantastic weather this summer. We’ve only had a few hot days, and so far we haven’t suffered from any smoke from wildfires.

Day Two: Half Moon Bay to Hawk Camp: 42 miles, 4,000 feet of climb

Zeke at the top of Hawk Hill, Marin, California (August 2026)

Sunday. From Half Moon Bay, they rode along Highway 1 to Devil’s Slide, at which point they took a path to Pacifica and what Zeke expected to be the ugliest part of the ride. They made their way through residential streets to Skyline, dropping onto the Great Highway near the San Francisco Zoo and Golden Gate Park.

They picked up food for lunch and dinner at Safeway before riding through the Avenues along the Slow Streets (created during Covid), to the Palace of the Legion of Honor, through Seacliff, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and into Marin and the Marin Headlands.

They climbed 800 feet to the top of Hawk Hill, stopping to enjoy the incredible view of San Francisco, the Bay, and the Golden Gate Bridge, before descending down an 18% grade paved road in preparation for their final climb of the day. The views were stunning.

There was no water at Hawk Camp, so they stocked up before doing the 1,000-foot climb to the campsite. The last 200 yards were so steep Zeke had to drop his bags, push his bike up, and then walk back down to retrieve his bags.

Hawk Camp has three campsites, and they were the only ones there. It would have been perfect if they hadn’t heard the Highway 101 traffic and seen the top of Salesforce Tower over the ridge. The contrast between being isolated and yet hearing civilization was jarring. There was a porta potty but no running water, which meant no showers. Hopefully their tents were well distanced.

Day Three: Hawk Camp to Samuel P Taylor State Park: 32 miles, 4,500 feet of climb

Good morning from Hawk Camp, Marin, California (August 2026)

Monday. After a camp breakfast of oatmeal and coffee (breakfast of champions?), they rode into Mill Valley and to the Miwok Trail, where they really started their hike-a-bike adventure. Throughout the morning, they alternated between riding their bikes and pushing them up hills.

Once they got to Muir Beach, they waited for the Pelican Inn to open for lunch, fueling up before their 2,000-foot climb to Pantoll Campground, where they should have spent the night. Unfortunately, none of them knew it existed, and they had reservations at Samuel P. Taylor State Park, where their friend Tom was meeting them with burritos.

Zeke riding a trail overlooking Richardson Bay/Sausalito, California (August 2026)

Part of the trail was made up of not the five-star gravel they love, but loose rocks, which meant more pushing bikes up hills. Zeke said that they’d complete a climb, turn a corner, and see another steep hill. After three of these, Zeke had to stop, wait for his food to settle, regroup, and mentally prepare to continue. He was exhausted at this point.

All of this was part of the Bolinas Ridge Trail in Marin, an area closely associated with the birth of modern mountain biking.

Once they got out of the redwoods, they encountered trails near grazing cattle, which should have been great, but the trail was super rutty. After the rains, the cattle had walked along the trail, creating potholes with their hoof prints and making for a very bumpy ride. At some point, Zeke lost an important screw that kept his pannier affixed to his bike.

The world is small…while riding somewhere in Marin, he bumped into Maddie, the daughter of someone we went to high school with. She didn’t recognize him and probably assumed he was an old, creepy fan…she’s a singer who’s beginning to get recognized, especially in Marin, where she’s from.

They arrived at Samuel P. Taylor State Park to Tom with burritos, more than ready to be done with the ride for the day. This is a beautiful park, nestled in the redwoods, reminding Zeke of one of our favorite campgrounds, Memorial Park outside of Pescadero.

While at the campground, they met an older guy and his wife on a tandem bike. They appeared to be in their 70s. He shared stories of riding across the country in 1976 as part of Bikecentennial ’76. He continues to revisit his experience from 50 years ago through texts and stories from the journals kept by other riders at the time.

They took hot showers, ate the burritos, shot the shit, and once it got dark, they all crawled into their tents and crashed out for the night.

Day Four: Samuel P. Taylor State Park - Sibley Volcanic Preserve: 43 miles, 4,000 feet of climb

Tuesday. Tom rode with them for a bit before returning to his home in Sebastopol. While on Emily’s route, within a mile, they encountered a hill that went straight up. Zeke said he just couldn’t do it, so they turned around, got on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, and rode toward Fairfax and then San Rafael.

While in San Rafael, they found a laundromat to do laundry (remember, Zeke only had four pairs of riding shorts and they were about to hit day five) and have lunch.

Once done, they needed to get across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. While there is a bike lane on the bridge, due to lack of use, it was closed to cyclists during the week. Instead, there is a shuttle that runs back and forth throughout the day. They joined Calvin, their driver, and another cyclist in loading up their bikes and making their way across the bridge, which took about 15 minutes.

As they rode through Richmond, they stopped at a Grocery Outlet to pick up some boxed mac ‘n’ cheese and frozen vegetables for dinner. When they got to Tilden Park, they estimated they had 10 miles and 2,000 feet of climb until they reached their campground. After 8.5 miles, they had barely climbed and were devastated to see that the last 1.5 miles was straight up. So back to hiking and biking up the hill to their campsite, where they had the place to themselves.

That night, as they made their mac ‘n’ cheese in their three small pots, over their three small camp stoves, and shared one of Zeke’s freeze-dried backpacker meals (nothing but the best for these guys), Zeke’s knee started to hurt. He was absolutely exhausted. The ride had ceased to be fun, and they started making other plans for the remainder of the trip.

From Sibley Volcanic Reserve, Oakland, California (August 2026)

As they relaxed into the evening, they watched the fog roll over the Oakland Hills. Since they were at about 1,000 feet in elevation, they were at the top of the fog layer, watching the sun set until the fog made its way into the campground. While chilly, it was breathtaking and an unusual experience from this vantage point.

Day Five: Sibley Volcanic Preserve to Redwood City: 20 miles, 750 feet of climb

Wednesday. They woke up to fog and, while enjoying their coffee and oatmeal, discussed their options.

The plan to ride all the way back was abandoned, at least by Eric (E1) and Zeke, who both live in Redwood City. Erik (E2) is a beast and rode all the way home to San Jose, a total of 60 miles.

Together, they rode along Skyline to Redwood Road in Oakland. At one point, Zeke looked at the map and realized they were 5 miles from the Fruitvale BART station but opted to keep going to catch BART in Castro Valley instead. It was a great choice, as the ride on Redwood Road was gorgeous. There were other cyclists, not many cars, horses, trees, and a gentle climb. While he’d been on Redwood Road between Moraga and Castro Valley, he hadn’t done the section between Oakland and the turnoff.

This did not exist when we went here. Castro Valley High (August 2026)

They rode by the YMCA camp where Zeke was a camp counselor as a teenager, past Willow Park Golf Course, which is now called Redwood Canyon, stopping in front of Castro Valley High School, where we went to school, long enough to snap a photo. It was a little bit of a trip down memory lane for Zeke, which he shared with the Erics.

They dined on wagyu beef croissants at a Japanese bakery called One’s before parting ways with E2 and catching BART to the Embarcadero stop in San Francisco. They rode down to the King Street Caltrain station, catching the train to Redwood City, with the final one-mile ride home to our house before E1 kept going to his.

Final Thoughts

I asked Zeke for some final thoughts about the ride, and he offered the following:

If he did it again, and he would, he would cut the days in half. This would reduce not just the mileage but the amount of time they pushed bikes not only up hills, but down as well. He thinks it would be more enjoyable. I think he’s delusional and not remembering his experience accurately. He says it was Type II fun…I get that.
In San Rafael, he would plan to stay at a hotel to get a hot shower and do laundry. There were several places without showers, and they could have used them.
He wants to go back and do the sections they missed. What’s great about the trails being so close to home is that he can do the rides as part of a day trip. Of course, I’d have to drive him over and drop him off. This is a next summer activity, as there’s no time left this summer.
He appreciated having multiple bailout points in the event that he was hurt, exhausted, the bike failed, or any combination thereof. They were never very far from a ride, train, or ferry.
He’d like to add his comments to Emily’s route on bikepacking.com to help others better plan and mentally prepare for this trip, but you need a paid membership, which he doesn’t have.

And this trip is just another example of why we struggle to balance traveling and being home in the Bay Area. There are as many adventures available to us here as elsewhere in the world. After 56 years of living here, we still haven’t explored everything. We love finding the nooks and crannies hidden in plain sight in our own backyard.

❤️ Terri

Beyond the Itinerary: The Long Way Around the Bay